Food Lion announced today it has selected Doner as its advertising agency of record, effective immediately.

“Doner will be a strong strategic partner for Food Lion as we continue to deliver on our strategy, Easy, Fresh and Affordable … You Can Count on Food Lion Every day,” Meg Ham, president of Food Lion, said in a news release. “Doner has tremendous experience in the retail sector and we believe has a unique opportunity to help us continue to elevate the Food Lion brand and further enhance the emotional connection with our customer.”

Doner — which has offices in Detroit, Cleveland, London and Los Angeles — will help evolve Food Lion’s brand strategy through integrated marketing planning, targeted advertising campaigns, and media planning and buying.

“From the beginning of the review process, we felt strong chemistry with the Food Lion team and that we were a great fit given their aspirations and our retail expertise,” said David DeMuth, president and co-CEO of Doner. “Food Lion is a brand with momentum and we look forward to working with Food Lion.”

With over $1.5 billion in billings, Doner is a part of the MDC Partners network. Its clients include Chrysler Automobiles, The Coca-Cola Co., Cox Communications, DuPont, Harman, Serta, Smithfield Foods and The UPS Store.

Raleigh-based consulting firm Hasan + Co. managed the review process, which began in June 2015. Doner succeeds Mullen as the agency of record. The terms of the contract were not disclosed, and new creative and advertising could take effect as early as the first quarter of 2016.

Serving 10 million customers each week at more than 1,100 locations in 10 states, Food Lion was founded as Food Town in 1957 and still is based in Salisbury.

Through Food Lion Feeds, the company has committed to provide 500 million meals to individuals and families in need by the end of 2020. Food Lion is a company of Delhaize America, the U.S. division of Brussels-based Delhaize Group (NYSE: DEG). For more information, visit www.foodlion.com.